From Thursday September 4, to 9, a Non Governmental Organisation, Building Bridges with Rwanda (BBR) has been holding an exhibition at Kandt house in Kigali.

The exhibition is aimed at celebrating the integration of art and science for increased development in the rural communities in Rwanda.

The opening of the exhibition was presided over by the minister in the office of the President in charge of Science, Technology, Scientific Research and Information and Communication Technologies Prof. Romain Murenzi. He commended BBR and Emily Carr University for contributing towards innovation in Rwanda.

BBR has been working together with Emily Carr Univeristy students in Eastern province.

Murenzi said that their activities are in line with the country’s economic development road map Vision 2020.

"What you are doing is relevant to innovation” said Murenzi. Founded in Vancouver Canada in 2006, BBR is a community development non-profit organisation.

According to Lama Mugabo the NGO’s Executive Director, it provides a forum for Canadians and Rwandans to work side by side and foster sustainable development through community action.

Together with Vancouver’s Emily CAR University that specializes in art, media and design BBR has been working with a group of weavers in Gashora in Bugesera.

Two student interns from the University; Kara Pecknold and Mitch Stookey have for three months been working as interns to support a community based research project, where a group of weavers are turning an environmental problem into an economic development solution.

Cooperative of Weavers of Gashora (COVAGA) has been extracting water hyacinth plants and using its fiber to weave artifacts as an avenue to promote art while combating poverty.

From June to September of this year, BBR facilitated collaborative research between Emily Carr University students and COVAGA members.

The result of this work is the production of documentary film footage and a web site. This is aimed at helping COVAGA expand its market beyond Rwandan horizons and provide a tool for promoting research on the water hyacinth.

COVAGA founder Evanitie Mukanyombaire was all praises for their Canadian partners for helping them to protect their environment.

"You have done a lot in helping us to protect the environment and fight poverty” said Mukanyombaire.
At the beginning of the research in Rwanda, BBR’s co-founder Lama.

Mugabo along with Emily Carr University students, Kara Pecknold and Mitch Stookey, participated in the Joint Workshop of the Rwanda Research and Science Council (co-sponsored by the McLaughlin-Rotman Center for Global Health in Toronto).

Pecknold explains that the workshop aimed to demonstrate how knowledge and skills can be harnessed for socio-economic growth in Rwanda.

Since then, their research according to Pecknold, has demonstrated how art can be aligned with scientific innovation to create economic potential.

"While the water hyacinth is perceived as an invasive species that has damaged Rwandan lakes and rivers, research has shown that the same plant can be used as a renewable resource, which can garner a number of economic development opportunities.”

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